Abstract: The collection contains diaries of Henry Cogswell and his wife
Caroline and are an unusually long and consistent record of busy personal and financial life
in the western United States. The collection also contains Cogswell's financial and business
records, and materials on the various schools with which he was involved. A significant
portion of the collection consists of research materials of Loren B. Taber pertaining to
Henry and Caroline Cogswell, the history of dentistry in California, and a biography of
William Brown Gilden.

Languages Represented: Collection materials are in English

Physical Location: For current information on the location of these materials,
please consult the Library's online catalog.

Information for Researchers

Access

Collection is open for research.

Publication Rights

Copyright has been ssigned to The Bancroft Library. Materials in this collection are
protected by the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.). In addition, the reproduction of
some materials may be restricted by terms of University of California gift or purchase
agreements, donor restrictions, privacy and publicity rights, licensing and trademarks.
Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by
fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public
domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owner.
Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.

All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from, or otherwise use collection materials
must be submitted in writing to the Head of Public Services, The Bancroft Library,
University of California, Berkeley 94720-6000. See:
http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/reference/permissions.html .

Some printed materials have been transferred to the book collection of The Bancroft
Library.

Photographs have been transferred to Pictorial Collections of The Bancroft Library.

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the
library's online public access catalog

Gilden, William Brown

Taber, Loren B. Compiler

Business enterprises--California--San Francisco

Dentistry--California

Fountains--Design and construction

Real estate investment--California--San
Francisco Bay Area

Technical education--California--San Francisco

Business records

Legal instruments

Administrative Information

Acquisition Information

The Henry D. Cogswell Papers were donated to The Bancroft Library in two installments, in
December 1983 and in May 1987, by his grandson, Professor Richard D. Taber.

Biographical Information

California pioneer, Henry D. Cogswell was a dentist by profession, an inventor, a real
estate manipulator and investor, entrepreneur, philanthropist, temperance advocate, and
founder of Cogswell Polytechnic College (1887), the first engineering
institute west of St. Louis. Dr. Cogswell donated several statues of himself, as well as
numerous fountains, to the city of San Francisco.

Scope and Content

The diaries of Henry and his wife Caroline cover 37 years (1860-1897) and are an unusually
long and consistent record of busy personal and financial life in the West, including
travels and the transactions of day to day life. In addition to the diaries, the collection
contains Cogswell's financial and business records, including tax receipts, deeds,
mortgages, legal documents, and mining certificates. Material on the various schools with
which Cogswell was involved, and information and correspondence about the various fountains
and statues Cogswell donated is also included.

Another significant portion of this collection is research done by Loren B. Taber
pertaining to Henry and Caroline Cogswell, the history of dentistry in
California, and a biography on William Brown Gilden, as well as a
reference file of index cards for the Cogswell material and for Taber's
correspondents re Cogswell.